Sweeney Todd
Combining classic Burton horror and gore with Broadway showtunes, Burton releases Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Sasha Baren Cohen, the film depicts a barber who kills his customers and puts their bodies into meat pies. Time magazine rates the film an A-minus.
Batman Forever
Burton co-produces the third Warner Brothers reprise of the Batman trilogy, Batman Forever. Starring Val Kilmer as Batman, Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Faced Harvy Dent and Jim Carrey as the Riddler, the film grossed $336 million with a combination of darkness and comedy. When interviewed about making another Batman movie:
It’s easy in retrospect to think why something worked, but I try not to. On this, giving it a different energy, working with different people, you can’t do that. It’s a different animal in a way. There’s some good parts to it, and stuff.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Burton directs television episodes for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a revival of the 1955 broadcast that aired updated remakes and original stores of Hitchcock’s works.
Hansel & Gretel
Burton directs the Disney feature Hansel & Gretel, a Japanese-themed adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale, which includes kung fu battles. The short was only aired once before being shelved by Disney. Reports later claim that Burton was so emmbarassed of his work, he never had a desire to release it publicly, and was only aired a single time on Disney Channel with very little viewership. The film is considered an urban legend of the industry.